A national transportation company comprehensively analyzed the current public routes, which have not been changed since their inception over 25 years ago. The results are the creation of Skylands Connect, which runs from Sussex south down Route 23 through Wantage, Hamburg, and Franklin, onto Route 517 through Ogdensburg and Sparta and up Sparta Avenue to Andover and Newton, which adds the Carlton Village section of Hardyston and the YMCA as new service areas. The elimination of a very low ridership area from Sussex to Newton along Route 565 will be serviced through the Skylands Request paratransit buses. The changes allow Skylands Ride to provide more frequent service throughout the day to areas with the highest ridership.

For the first time ever, Sussex County residents can now get out of the county using public transportation to a destination other than New York City. Service to the Netcong transit hub will coincide with the new service changes. Passengers travelling to Netcong can access buses and trains to go anywhere. In addition, for the first time ever, people will be able to travel from destinations other than New York to get into Sussex County.

The name Skylands Ride remains unchanged, but the names of the services have changed to better reflect the type of service provided. The loop service has been re-named Skylands Connect because it connects towns along the newly defined corridor. The paratransit demand response service, for which passengers call in advance to book a trip, will be known as Skylands Request.

Future plans are to have Skylands Ride services available on Google Transit. This will allow interested commuters to easily access our schedule and to pre-plan their transportation.

These changes in service and schedules have been instituted in order to increase ridership and service to the residents of Sussex County while responding to decreases in funding from federal, state and local sources.